Space Shuttle Status Report

[Astronuc]

I hope the successes continue, and I also hope that success doesn't go to peoples' heads and they begin to sit back and become complacent again. 

Columbia's loss shouldn't have happened! 

Challenger's loss shouldn't have happened!

[Astronuc]

MEDIA ADVISORY: M06-169
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/oct/HQ_M06169_STS-116_rollover.html

Space Shuttle Discovery Set for Move to Vehicle Assembly Building

NASA invites news media to witness an important milestone for the upcoming Space Shuttle Discovery mission, designated STS-116. On Wednesday, Nov. 1, Discovery is scheduled to move from the Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., to the Vehicle Assembly Building, where it will be attached to its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters.

Discovery’s launch window opens Dec. 7. During its 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the STS-116 crew of seven astronauts will deliver a third truss segment, a SPACEHAB module and other key components during the shuttle's 20th mission to the International Space Station.

 

 

[Astronuc]

Getting ready for another flight

NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery Rolls to Vehicle Assembly Building
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/nov/HQ_M06171_Shuttle_roll_over.html

NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery completed one milestone and is nearing another as workers prepare the orbiter for a December launch to the International Space Station.

On Tuesday night, drivers moved Discovery from the shuttle processing facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Discovery, perched on top of the giant, 76-wheel orbiter transporter system, began moving out of the facility at 9:23 p.m. EST.

In the assembly building, technicians attached Discovery to its propulsion elements, an external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters. Following those operations, final integration, preparations and closeouts began in preparation for flight.

Discovery's next milestone is the 4.2-mile trip to Launch Pad 39B in preparation for its mission, designated STS-116. During the 11-day mission, the shuttle's seven astronauts will rewire the station to bring online new power supplies generated by solar arrays installed in September.

[Astronuc]

STS-116 coming up next week. 

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts116/index.html

 

[Astronuc]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA will begin the countdown for Space Shuttle Discovery's STS-116 mission at 11 p.m. EST Monday, Dec. 4, at the T-43 hour point. During this mission, Discovery's crew will rewire the International Space Station, bringing electrical power on line from solar arrays launched earlier this year.

The Kennedy Space Center, Florida, launch team will conduct the countdown from Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center. The countdown includes 27 hours, 36 minutes of built-in hold time leading to a preferred launch time at 9:35 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 7. The launch window extends an additional five minutes.

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/nov/HQ_M06185_Countdown_Advisory.html

[Astronuc]

Updated: 3:45 p.m. EST

Space Shuttle Discovery's orange external tank is now filled with liquid propellants to power the ship's engines at liftoff. At 12:53 p.m., technicians began pumping 500,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen into the giant container. These propellants fuel the orbiter's trio of main engines during the entire ride to space. The NASA team finished the fuel loading process at approximately 3:40 p.m. Technicians will now continuously "top off" the tank to replace the supercold liquid propellants that boil off as they are warmed by the surrounding seaside air.

No technical issues with the launch pad or space shuttle are being worked on at this point as the countdown continues to a liftoff at 8:47 p.m. EST.

A cold front continues to dominate weather across Kennedy Space Center, producing partly sunny skies along with variable and gusty winds. The current chance for liftoff is 30 percent, however, the forecast continues to trend favorably and offers potential for improvement.

Inside the Operations and Checkout Building's crew quarters, the astronauts are making their final launch preparations. After eating breakfast, a weather briefing and suiting up, they'll board the silver Astrovan and leave for the launch pad amid the cheers of Kennedy employees.

  We're about 4 hrs and 40 min from launch - which still appears to be a GO.

Launch can be viewed live in various on-line video media.
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

[Astronuc]

Successful launch of Discovery  and beginning of STS-116 

[PandemicSoul]

This heard at 8:32pm, CST on NASA TV live broadcast of the shuttle launch:

Mike (shuttle): Just a head's up while I'm down here, I happen to notice that the [undecipherable] has some lights flashing on it, they are the warm up light, the ready light, and the restart-abort lights are all flashing.

(long silence)

Rick (mission control): Mike, thanks for the head's up, we'll take a look at that and get back with you on that.

(long silence)

Mike: Rick, I should probably tell you also that the screen is saying "Turn the power off immediately."

Rick: We copy that, stand by -- [beeping noise]

Apparently this is not a big deal, because then they just start chatting about something in the manual. Um, if there were me? I'd be heading for the parachutes.   

[Orstio]

Welcome here, PandemicSoul.  There are a lot of issues concerning using such an old piece of equipment like the shuttle.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061210/ap_on_sc/space_shuttle

HOUSTON - The orbiting Discovery crew, en route Sunday to rewire the international space station, first had to make sure the shuttle's heat shield wasn't damaged during liftoff.
 
The seven astronauts prepared to inspect the wings and nose cap Sunday afternoon for chips or other damage from foam, a procedure made mandatory after the Columbia accident in 2003. Mission spedrug spammert Nicholas Patrick will maneuver the shuttle's 50-foot robotic arm and similarly long boom with cameras and sensors.

[Orstio]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061213/ap_on_sc/space_shuttle

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Astronauts completed a nearly seven-hour spacewalk Tuesday, the first of three difficult forays outside during the shuttle Discovery's stay at the international space station.

U.S. astronaut Robert Curbeam, a veteran spacewalker, and the European Space Agency's Christer Fuglesang, who was making his first spacewalk, installed an addition to the orbiting space lab. They stepped back inside the spacecraft at 10:07 p.m. after 6 hours and 36 minutes of toiling outside.

Just before doing that, though, the pair sent a cosmic shout-out.

[remcook]

being an astronaut sounds tedious sometimes:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts116/061218fd10pre/index3.html

but then you get to hang in space for a few hours

[Astronuc]

Discovery space shuttle undocks
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6188359.stm

The space shuttle Discovery has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) after an eight-day stay on the orbiting outpost.

Early on Tuesday, astronauts fixed jammed solar panel on the ISS during an unscheduled fourth spacewalk.

A US astronaut on the space station has switched places with a member of the seven-person Discovery crew and will travel back to Earth on the orbiter.

Discovery detached from the space station at 2210 GMT.

"We finished all the mission objectives so we are very pleased. It's a great day for the ISS programme and the shuttle programme," said Kirk Shireman, deputy manager of the ISS programme.

The mission had three main objectives: installation of a two-tonne truss to the girder-like ISS structure, the rewiring of the power and thermal systems, and the retraction of an old solar array to allow a new one to collect solar energy.

The STS-116 crew’s stay at the International Space Station came to an end Tuesday when Space Shuttle Discovery undocked at 5:10 p.m. EST. During its eight-day visit, the STS-116 crew added a new truss segment to the station, delivered a new crew member and rewired the orbital outpost’s power system.

The STS-116 crew conducted three spacewalks to install the P5 integrated truss segment and rewire the station’s power system. The P5 spacer segment’s attachment to the P4 sets the stage for the relocation of the P6 and its set of solar arrays. The rewiring activities put the station’s power system in a permanent setup. A fourth spacewalk was conducted to assist in the retraction of the troublesome port solar array on the P6.

Astronaut Sunita Williams, who arrived at the station with the STS-116 mission, replaced European Space Agency Astronaut Thomas Reiter on the Expedition 14 crew at midnight Tuesday, Dec. 12. Williams will remain a member of Expedition 14 until Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin are relieved by Expedition 15 in March 2007. Williams will finish her remaining time of her six-month tour of duty on the station as a member of Expedition 15. Reiter will return to Earth with STS-116.

Also, the STS-116 and Expedition 14 crews worked together to transfer 4,292 pounds of supplies and equipment delivered to the station by Discovery. The two crews have also transferred 3,725 pounds of cargo that will return to Earth with STS-116.

STS-117 is scheduled to visit the station in March.

NASA

[Astronuc]

The flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station on mission STS-117 has been targeted for March 15, a day earlier than originally planned.

Final vehicle closeouts are under way and the orbiter is scheduled to roll over to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for mating with the external tank and solid rocket boosters on Feb. 7.

Meanwhile, the canister that holds the S3/S4 solar arrays has been "fit tested" and is scheduled to be transported to the pad on Feb. 18.

On the next space shuttle flight to continue constructing the station, the Atlantis crew will install a new truss segment, retract a set of solar arrays and unfold a new set on the starboard side of the station. Lessons learned from two previous missions will provide the astronauts with new techniques and tools to perform their duties.

Commanding the Atlantis team is Frederick Sturckow, a veteran of two shuttle missions (STS-88, STS-105), while Lee Archambault will be making his first flight as the shuttle's pilot. Mission Spedrug spammerts James Reilly (STS-89, STS-104) and Patrick Forrester (STS-105) will be returning to the station. Steven Swanson and John Olivas, both mission spedrug spammerts, join the crew for their first flight into space.

The mission astronauts will return to Kennedy a few weeks before liftoff to participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. During this time they will practice launch activities, safety exercises, inspect the payload and conclude with a simulated main engine cut-off exercise.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/mission_overview.html

and right behind that is STS-118

Students Meet STS-118 Crew Members 

02.01.07

Educator Astronaut and Mission Spedrug spammert Barbara Morgan and Mission Spedrug spammert Dave Williams met with more than 100 Texas elementary and middle schools students during Space Center Houston’s “Meet an Astronaut Day” on Jan. 19.

Morgan and Williams talked about their upcoming flight, STS-118. Scheduled to launch no earlier than June 28, STS-118 will continue assembly of the International Space Station by delivering a third starboard truss segment. On her first flight, Morgan will operate the shuttle and space station’s robotic arms. Williams, of the Canadian Space Agency, will make his second trip into space and conduct several spacewalks.

The mission’s lead shuttle flight director Matt Abbott and lead ISS flight director Joel Montalbano first greeted the students, introducing them to a flight director’s responsibility in leading the mission, and emphasizing the value of teamwork at NASA and in the classroom.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/morgan_meet_an_astronaut.html

[Astronuc]

Nasa delays space shuttle launch
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6402721.stm

Nasa has said it will postpone next month's launch of US space shuttle Atlantis after damage to the shuttle's fuel tank.

A hailstorm late on Monday pummelled the fuel tank and a wing with shards of ice, leaving hundreds of dents.

The shuttle had been positioned on a launch pad in preparation for the flight, scheduled for 15 March.

The shuttle will now be shifted to a hangar at the Kennedy Space Centre so that the damage can be repaired.

"This constitutes the worst damage from hail that we have seen on external tank foam," said Wayne Hale, manager of the Space Shuttle Program.

He said several areas needed repair which were not accessible at the launch pad.

The space shuttle will move back to the hanger over the weekend or early next week, Nasa said.

Nasa said that the launch would be delayed by at least a month and the earliest opportunity to launch the shuttle would be in late April.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/multimedia/117_gallery-hail.html

Don't park the shuttle outside!   

[Astronuc]

Beyond Tang: Food in Space
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10792763

Morning Edition, June 7, 2007 · NASA's Johnson Space Center invited The Kitchen Sisters to visit its "hidden kitchen." On the eve of NASA's scheduled launch of space shuttle Atlantis, The Kitchen Sisters present a brief history of space food.

We took Travis up on her invitation and set off traveling to Houston. Along the way, we followed the trails of some of the many Hidden Kitchens Texas calls that we had received over the year. Calls about oil barrel barbeques, cowboy kitchens, oystermen on Galveston Bay, the tamale lady at Fuel City in Dallas, a restaurant tucked down a driveway in Fort Worth, a car wash kitchen in El Paso, the garage kitchens of Vietnamese residents in Houston, and the space food kitchens of NASA.

. . . .

Well this could also be relevant to ISS and Lunar Colonies.